Noninvasive physiological sensor

ABSTRACT

A noninvasive physiological sensor can include a first body portion and a second body portion coupled to each other and configured to at least partially enclose a user&#39;s finger. The sensor can further include a first probe coupled to one or more emitters and a second probe coupled to a detector. The first probe can direct light emitted from the one or more emitters toward tissue of the user&#39;s finger and the second probe can direct light attenuated through the tissue to the detector. The first and second probes can be coupled to the first and second body portions such that when the first and second body portions are rotated with respect to one another, ends of the first and second probes can be moved in a direction towards one another to compress the tissue of the user&#39;s finger.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claimis identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to physiological monitoring devices,systems, and methods.

BACKGROUND

Hospitals, nursing homes, and other user care facilities typicallyinclude user monitoring devices at one or more bedsides in the facility.User monitoring devices generally include sensors, processing equipment,and displays for obtaining and analyzing a medical user's physiologicalparameters such as blood oxygen saturation level, respiratory rate,pulse, and a myriad of other parameters. Clinicians, including doctors,nurses, and other medical personnel, use the physiological parametersand trends of those parameters obtained from user monitors to diagnoseillnesses and to prescribe treatments. Clinicians also use thephysiological parameters to monitor users during various clinicalsituations to determine whether to increase the level of medical caregiven to users.

Examples of non-invasive user monitoring devices include pulseoximeters. Pulse oximetry is a widely accepted noninvasive procedure formeasuring the oxygen saturation level of arterial blood, an indicator ofa person's oxygen supply. A pulse oximeter generally includes one ormore light sources that transmit optical radiation into a portion of thebody, for example a digit such as a finger, a hand, a foot, a nose, anearlobe, or a forehead. After attenuation by tissue and fluids of theportion of the body, one or more photodetection devices detect theattenuated light and output one or more detector signals responsive tothe detected attenuated light. The oximeter may, in various embodiments,calculate oxygen saturation (SpO2), pulse rate, a plethysmographwaveform, perfusion index (PI), pleth variability index (PVI),methemoglobin (HbMet), carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO), total hemoglobin (HbT),glucose, among other physiological parameters, and the oximeter maydisplay on one or more monitors the foregoing parameters individually,in groups, in trends, as combinations, or as an overall wellness orother index.

SUMMARY

For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects, advantagesand novel features of several embodiments have been described herein. Itis to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages can beachieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the embodimentsdisclosed herein. Thus, the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodiedor carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage orgroup of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving otheradvantages as can be taught or suggested herein.

A noninvasive physiological sensor can comprise: a first body portionand a second body portion coupled to the first body portion, the firstand second body portions configured to at least partially enclose afinger of a user; and a first probe and a second probe at leastpartially aligned with the first probe, the first probe coupled to oneor more emitters and to at least one of the first and second bodyportions, the first probe configured to direct optical radiation emittedfrom the one or more emitters toward tissue of the user's finger, thesecond probe coupled to one or more detectors and to at least one of thefirst and second body portions, the second probe configured to directlight attenuated through pulsatile blood flowing through the tissue tothe one or more detectors. When the first and second body portions arerotated with respect to one another, a distance between ends of thefirst and second probes can be changed. When the first and second bodyportions are rotated with respect to one another to a first position,ends of the first and second probes can be configured to compress atleast a portion of the tissue of the user, and wherein the distancebetween the ends of the first and second probes can define an opticalradiation transmission path length. The optical radiation transmissionpath length can be less than ¼ inch (0.64 cm). When the first and secondbody portions are rotated with respect to one another to a secondposition, the ends of the first and second probes can be configured tomove further away from one another, and wherein, at the second position,the distance between the ends can be equal to a maximum distance. Atleast one of the first and second body portions of the noninvasivephysiological sensor can comprise: a first hole configured to receivethe first probe, the first hole having a first axis runningtherethrough; and a second hole configured to receive the second probe,the second hole having a second axis running therethrough; wherein thefirst axis of the first hole and the second axis of the second hole aresubstantially aligned such that, when the first probe passes through thefirst hole into an interior space defined by the first and second bodyportions and the second probe passes through the second hole into theinterior space, the ends of the first and second probes oppose oneanother and compress the tissue on the finger of the user. The firsthole can extend through a first side of the first body portion andwherein the second hole extends through a second side of the first bodyportion, the second side opposite to the first side, and wherein thefirst body portion can be shaped to conform to the finger of the user.The noninvasive physiological sensor can further comprise a first probeguide and a second probe guide, and wherein the first probe can be atleast partially retained by the first probe guide and the second probecan be at least partially retained by the second probe guide, whereinthe first probe guide can comprise a first through-hole sized to receivethe first probe and wherein the second probe guide can comprise a secondthrough-hole sized to receive the second probe. The noninvasivephysiological sensor can further comprise a joint configured torotatably couple the first body portion to the second body portion andallow the first body portion to rotate about a transverse axis of thesensor, the transverse axis being generally perpendicular to alongitudinal axis of the sensor extending along a length of the sensor.The joint can comprise a first hinge extending from the first bodyportion, a second hinge extending from the second body portion, and apin configured to extend through holes in the first and second hingesand couple the first and second hinges to one another. The end of atleast one of the first and second probes can be angled.

A method of measuring a physiological parameter of a user can comprise:moving a first end of a first probe towards a first end of a secondprobe to compress tissue of a user; emitting optical radiation from atleast one emitter through a second end of the first probe, the secondend of the first probe being opposite to the first end of the firstprobe; directing the emitted optical radiation to the compressed tissueof the user with the first probe; permitting at least a portion of theemitted optical radiation to pass through a second end of the secondprobe after attenuation by pulsatile blood flowing in the compressedtissue, the second end of the second probe being opposite the first endof the second probe; directing the at least a portion of the emittedoptical radiation to a detector with the second probe; and determiningthe physiological parameter based on the optical radiation detected bythe detector. The method can further comprise detecting a first amountof optical radiation emitted by the at least one emitter with an I₀detector. The method can further comprise comparing the first amount ofoptical radiation detected by the I₀ detector with a second amount ofoptical radiation detected by the detector, wherein the physiologicalparameter is determined based on said comparison. The step of moving thefirst end of the first probe towards the first end of the second probeto compress the tissue of the user can comprise moving the first ends ofthe first and second probes toward one another such that the first endssubstantially align with one another, and wherein a distance between thefirst ends of the first and second probes defines an optical radiationtransmission path length. The optical radiation transmission path lengthcan be less than ¼ inch (0.64 cm). The first probe can comprise a firstoptical fiber and the second probe can comprise a second optical fiber.

A noninvasive physiological monitoring system can comprise: anoninvasive physiological sensor comprising a first body portion and asecond body portion coupled to the first body portion, the first andsecond body portions configured to enclose a portion of a user's bodyand rotate relative to one another; a first probe and a second probe,each of the first and second probes coupled to at least one of the firstand second body portions such that rotation of the first body portionwith respect to the second body portion in a first rotational directioncauses first ends of the first and second probes to move in a directiontowards each other to compress tissue of the portion of the user's body;an emitter assembly comprising one or more emitters and one or moreemitter fibers coupled to the one or more emitters, the one or moreemitter fibers coupled to a second end of the first probe and configuredto direct light emitted from the one or more emitters to the firstprobe, wherein the first probe is configured to direct the emitted lighttowards the tissue of the user; and a first detector coupled to a secondend of the second probe, wherein the second probe is configured tocollect at least a portion of the light after attenuation through thetissue of the user and guide the attenuated light to the first detector.The noninvasive physiological monitoring system can further comprise anI₀ detector configured to detect an amount of light emitted from the oneor more emitters through the one or more emitter fibers. The noninvasivephysiological monitoring system can further comprise: a third probecoupled to at least one of the first and second body portions such thatrotation of the first body portion with respect to the second bodyportion in the first rotational direction causes a first end of thethird probe to move along with the first end of the first probe in thedirection towards the second probe to compress the tissue of the portionof the user's body; and a second detector coupled to a second end of thethird probe, wherein the third probe is configured to collect at least aportion of the light after attenuation through the tissue of the userand guide the attenuated light to the second detector. At least one ofthe first ends of the first and second probes can be angled.

A noninvasive physiological sensor configured to be secured to a fingerof a user can comprise an upper sensor body including a top surface anda bottom surface facing a direction opposite to the top surface and alower sensor body. The lower sensor body can include a top surfaceconfigured to face the bottom surface of the upper sensor body when thenoninvasive physiological sensor is in use and a bottom surface facing adirection opposite to the top surface of the lower sensor body. Aportion of the top surface can be shaped to conform to a finger of theuser. The lower sensor body can comprise a first hole on a first side ofthe lower sensor body configured to allow a first optical fiber to passtherethrough to an interior space defined by the lower sensor body and asecond hole on a second side of the lower sensor body configured toallow a second optical fiber to pass therethrough to the interior space.The noninvasive physiological sensor can further comprise a jointconfigured to rotatably couple the upper sensor body to the lower sensorbody and allow the upper sensor body to rotate about a transverse axisof the device, the transverse axis being generally perpendicular to alongitudinal axis that extends through a length of the device. The jointcan include: a first coupling portion extending from the bottom surfaceof the upper sensor body towards the top surface of the lower sensorbody, the first coupling portion comprising a first hole; a secondcoupling portion extending from the top surface of the lower sensor bodytowards the bottom surface of the upper sensor body, the second couplingportion comprising a second hole; and a pin configured to extend throughthe first hole of the first coupling portion and the second hole of thesecond coupling portion. The noninvasive physiological sensor canfurther comprise a swivel mechanism including a first arm extending froma first side of the upper sensor body and a second arm extending from asecond side of the upper sensor body. The first arm can comprise a firstslot configured to permit the first optical fiber to pass therethroughand the second arm can comprise a second slot configured to permit thesecond optical fiber to pass therethrough, the first and second armsextending outside of the first and second sides of the lower sensorbody. The noninvasive physiological sensor can further comprise a firstfiber guide including a first through-hole configured to permit thefirst optical fiber to pass therethrough, the first fiber guidepositioned adjacent to the first side of the lower sensor body so as toalign the first through-hole with the first hole of the lower sensorbody, the first fiber guide configured to at least partially secure thefirst optical fiber. The noninvasive physiological sensor can furthercomprise a second fiber guide including a second through-hole configuredto permit the second optical fiber to pass therethrough, the secondfiber guide positioned adjacent to the second side of the lower sensorbody so as to align the second through-hole with the second hole of thelower sensor body, the second fiber guide configured to at leastpartially secure the second optical fiber. The swivel mechanism can beconfigured such that, when the upper sensor body rotates about thetransverse axis in a direction towards the lower sensor body, the firstand second arms of the swivel mechanism apply a force to the first andsecond fiber guides so as to move the first and second optical fiberstoward each other within the interior space of the lower sensor body andcompress a portion of the finger of the user. The first and second armsof the swivel mechanism can each comprise a top end secured to the uppersensor body and a bottom end opposite the top end, wherein the first andsecond arms flare outward in a direction parallel to the transverse axisfrom the top end to the bottom end. The force applied by the first andsecond arms of the swivel mechanism to the first and second fiber guidescan be caused by rotation of the upper sensor body from a firstposition, where the fiber guides are contacting the bottom ends of thefirst and second arms, to a second position, where the fiber guides arecontacting a segment of the first and second arms between the top andbottom ends. The first optical fiber can be configured to couple to oneor more emitters, the one or more emitters configured to emit light atone or more wavelengths, and wherein the second optical fiber can beconfigured to couple to one or more detectors, the one or more detectorsconfigured to detect light attenuated by the portion of the user'sfinger. The portion of the top surface of the lower sensor body shapedto conform to the finger of the user can be sloped from a first flatedge along the first side of the lower sensor body to a middle portionof the top surface of the lower sensor body and can be sloped from asecond flat edge along the second side of the lower sensor body to themiddle portion. The first and second holes of the lower sensor body cangenerally align with each other. The lower sensor body can furthercomprise an opening positioned between the first and second holes of thelower sensor body and configured to permit inspection of the compressedportion of the user's finger. The lower sensor body can further compriseone or more legs on the bottom surface, the one or more legs can beconfigured to allow the device to sit upright when placed atop asurface. The lower sensor body can further comprise a recess located onthe first side of the lower sensor body configured to allow a portion ofthe first arm of the swivel mechanism to fit therewithin. A plane of therecess of the lower sensor body can be inclined with respect to a planeof the top surface of the lower sensor body so as to conform to theshape and orientation of the first arm of the swivel mechanism. Thelower sensor body can further comprise a recess located on the firstside of the lower sensor body and configured to allow a portion of thefirst fiber guide to fit therewithin. A cross-section of the first fiberguide can be cylindrical along at least a portion of a length of thefirst fiber guide. Cross-sections of the first and second fiber guidescan be cylindrical along at least a portion of lengths of the first andsecond fiber guides. The noninvasive physiological sensor can furthercomprise a biasing member having a first end configured to fit within afirst recess in the bottom surface of the upper sensor body and a secondend configured to fit within a second recess in the top surface of thelower sensor body. The biasing member can be a spring. Each of the firstand second arms of the swivel mechanism can comprise a stopper on aninterior-facing surface of the arms configured to contact edges of thetop surface of the lower body when the device is in a closed position,the stoppers configured to prevent the upper sensor body from rotatingbeyond a limit so as to protect the user's finger from injury. Thestoppers can have a rectangular cross-section and have bottom surfacesthat lay flush against surfaces of the edges of the top surface of thelower body when the device is in the closed position, the stoppers. Thefirst and second arms of the swivel mechanism can extend from the uppersensor body and curve towards a back portion of the device. The firstand second arms of the swivel mechanism can extend below the bottomsurface of the lower sensor body when the device is in a closedposition. The first coupling portion can comprise a first and secondhinge. The second coupling portion can comprise a third and fourthhinge. The first and second hinges of the first coupling portion can bepositioned between the third and fourth hinges of the second couplingportion when the noninvasive physiological sensor is in use. The bottomsurface of the upper sensor body can comprise a recessed portion shapedto correspond with a shape of a top end of the second coupling portionso as to facilitate rotation of the upper sensor body with respect tothe second coupling portion. The top surface of the lower sensor bodycan comprise a recessed portion shaped to correspond with a shape of abottom end of the first coupling portion so as to facilitate rotation ofthe lower sensor body with respect to the first coupling portion. Thefirst and second slots of the first and second arms of the swivelmechanism have slot lengths corresponding to an optimal rotation of theupper sensor body with respect to the lower sensor body. The slotlengths can be at least 50% of lengths of the first and second arms ofthe swivel mechanism.

A noninvasive physiological sensor configured to be secured to a usercan comprise: an upper sensor body; a lower sensor body; and a jointconfigured to rotatably couple the upper sensor body to the lower sensorbody and allow the upper sensor body to rotate about a transverse axisof the device generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of thedevice. At least one of the upper sensor body and lower sensor body canbe shaped to conform to a finger of the user. The lower sensor body cancomprise a first hole configured to allow a first optical fiber to passthere through to an interior space defined by the lower sensor body anda second hole configured to allow a second optical fiber to pass therethrough to the interior space, and wherein the first hole and the secondhole are aligned. The upper sensor body and lower sensor body can beconfigured such that, when, rotated about the transverse axis of thedevice, the first and second optical fibers are moved toward each otherwithin the interior space defined by the lower sensor body to compress aportion of the user's finger when the finger is placed within thedevice. The upper sensor body can comprise a top surface and a bottomsurface facing a direction opposite to the top surface, and wherein thelower sensor body can comprise a top surface configured to face thebottom surface of the upper sensor body when the noninvasivephysiological sensor is in use and a bottom surface facing a directionopposite to the top surface of the lower sensor body. The top surfacecan be shaped to conform to the finger of the user, and wherein thefirst hole can be positioned on a first side of the lower sensor bodyand the second hole can be positioned on a second side of the lowersensor body. The noninvasive physiological sensor can further comprise aswivel mechanism comprising a first arm extending from a first side ofthe upper sensor body and a second arm extending from a second side ofthe upper sensor body. The first arm can comprise a first slotconfigured to permit the first optical fiber to pass therethrough andthe second arm can comprise a second slot configured to permit thesecond optical fiber to pass therethrough. The noninvasive physiologicalsensor can further comprise a first fiber guide coupled to the firstoptical fiber and positioned adjacent to the first side of the lowersensor body and a second fiber guide coupled to the second optical fiberand positioned adjacent to the second side of the lower sensor body.When the upper sensor body rotates about the transverse axis towards thelower sensor body, the arms of the swivel mechanism can engage the firstand second fiber guides to move the first and second optical fiberstoward each other and compress the tissue of the user. The first fiberguide can comprise a first through-hole configured to permit the firstoptical fiber to pass therethrough, the first fiber guide can bepositioned adjacent to the first side of the lower sensor body so as toalign the first through-hole with the first hole of the lower sensorbody, the first fiber guide can be configured to at least partiallysecure the first optical fiber. The second fiber guide can comprise asecond through-hole configured to permit the second optical fiber topass therethrough, the second fiber guide positioned adjacent to thesecond side of the lower sensor body so as to align the secondthrough-hole with the second hole of the lower sensor body, the secondfiber guide configured to at least partially secure the second opticalfiber. The first and second arms of the swivel mechanism can apply aforce to the first and second fiber guides so as to move the first andsecond optical fibers toward each other within the interior space of thelower sensor body and compress the portion of the finger of the user.The joint can comprise: a first coupling portion extending from thebottom surface of the upper sensor body towards the top surface of thelower sensor body, the first coupling portion comprising a first hole; asecond coupling portion extending from the top surface of the lowersensor body towards the bottom surface of the upper sensor body, thesecond coupling portion comprising a second hole; and a pin configuredto extend through the first hole of the first coupling portion to thesecond hole of the second coupling portion. The order by which the pinextends through the first and second holes can be changed.

A method of measuring a physiological parameter of a user can comprise:positioning a finger of the user within a noninvasive physiologicalmeasurement sensor, wherein the noninvasive physiological sensorcomprises an upper sensor body and a lower sensor body, and wherein atleast one of the upper sensor body and lower sensor body is shaped toconform to the finger of the user, the lower sensor body comprising afirst hole configured to allow a first optical fiber to pass therethrough to an interior space defined by the lower sensor body and asecond hole configured to allow a second optical fiber to passtherethrough to the interior space; moving the first and second opticalfibers through the first and second holes of the lower sensor bodytoward each other within the interior space to compress a portion of thefinger of the user; transmitting light, by an emitter through the firstoptical fiber through the portion of the user's finger; and detecting,with a detector, light attenuated by the portion of the user's finger.The upper sensor body can include a top surface and a bottom surfacefacing a direction opposite to the top surface. The lower sensor bodycan include a top surface configured to face the bottom surface of theupper sensor body when the noninvasive physiological sensor is in useand a bottom surface facing a direction opposite to the top surface ofthe lower sensor body, the top surface shaped to conform to the fingerof the user. The first hole can be located on a first side of the lowersensor body and the second hole can be located on a second side of thelower sensor body. Moving the first and second optical fibers cancomprise at least partially closing the noninvasive physiological sensoron the user's finger by rotating the upper sensor body with respect tothe lower sensor body, wherein, when the upper sensor body rotates withrespect to the lower sensor body, a swivel mechanism of the noninvasivephysiological sensor engages with a first fiber guide coupled to thefirst optical fiber and with a second fiber guide coupled to the secondoptical fiber to move the first and second optical fibers through thefirst and second holes. Rotating the upper sensor body with respect tothe lower sensor body can comprise rotating the upper sensor bodyrelative to the lower sensor body about a joint of the noninvasivephysiological measurement sensor. The joint can comprise: a firstcoupling portion extending from the bottom surface of the upper sensorbody towards the top surface of the lower sensor body, the firstcoupling portion comprising a third hole; a second coupling portionextending from the top surface of the lower sensor body towards thebottom surface of the upper sensor body, the second coupling portioncomprising a fourth hole; and a pin configured to extend through thefirst hole of the first coupling portion and the second hole of thesecond coupling portion. The method can further comprise generating anoutput signal based on the light detected at the portion of the user'sfinger.

A method of measuring a physiological parameter of a user can comprise:providing a first probe, the first probe coupled to one or more emittersconfigured to emit optical radiation having one or more wavelengthstoward tissue at a tissue measurement site on the user; providing asecond probe, the second probe coupled to one or more detectorsconfigured to detect light emitted by the one or more emitters afterattenuation by pulsatile blood flowing through the tissue at the tissuemeasurement site; moving ends of the first and second probes toward oneanother at the tissue measurement site so as to compress the tissue;emitting the optical radiation having one or more wavelengths from theone or more emitters and guiding the emitted optical radiation to thecompressed tissue with the first probe; and guiding the opticalradiation after attenuation by the pulsatile blood flowing through thecompressed tissue with the second probe to the one or more detectors;wherein, when the ends of the first and second probes compress thetissue at the tissue measurement site, the ends of the first and secondprobes substantially align with one another, a distance between the endsof the first and second probes defining an optical radiationtransmission path length. The first probe can comprise a first opticalfiber and the second probe can comprise a second optical fiber. The oneor more emitters can comprise: a first emitter configured to emitoptical radiation at a first wavelength; a second emitter configured toemit optical radiation at a second wavelength; and a third emitterconfigured to emit optical radiation at a third wavelength; wherein thefirst wavelength, second wavelength, and third wavelength can bedifferent from each other. The tissue measurement site of the user canbe located on a finger of the user and the method can further comprisepositioning the finger of the user within a noninvasive physiologicalmeasurement sensor to at least partially secure to the finger. Themethod can further comprise inserting the first probe through a firsthole in the noninvasive physiological measurement sensor and insertingthe second probe through a second hole in the noninvasive physiologicalmeasurement sensor. The first and second probes can be at leastpartially secured by the noninvasive physiological measurement sensor.The noninvasive physiological measurement sensor can comprise a firstprobe guide and a second probe guide, and wherein the first probe can beat least partially secured by the first fiber guide and the second probecan be at least partially secured by the second fiber guide. Thenoninvasive physiological measurement sensor can further comprise afirst body portion and a second body portion, and the first body portionand the second body portion can be coupled to one another and configuredto rotate with respect to one another, and wherein moving the ends ofthe first and second probes toward one another at the tissue measurementsite so as to compress the tissue can comprise rotating the first bodyportion with respect to the second body portion. At least one of thefirst body portion and the second body portion can comprise a surfaceshaped to conform to the finger of the user. Moving the ends of thefirst and second probes toward one another at the tissue measurementsite so as to compress the tissue can comprise moving the ends togetherso that the optical radiation transmission path length is between ¼ inch(0.64 cm) and 1/12 inch (0.21 cm). Moving the ends of the first andsecond probes toward one another at the tissue measurement site so as tocompress the tissue can comprise moving the ends together so that theoptical radiation transmission path length is between ⅙ inch (0.42 cm)and 1/10 inch (0.25 cm).

A noninvasive physiological sensor can comprise: a first body portionand a second body portion coupled to the first body portion, the firstand second body portions configured to at least partially enclose andsecure a finger of a user; a first hole configured to receive a firstprobe, the first probe coupled to one or more emitters configured toemit optical radiation having one or more wavelengths toward tissue onthe finger of the user, the first hole having a first axis runningtherethrough; a second hole configured to receive a second probe coupledto one or more detectors configured to detect light emitted by the oneor more emitters after attenuation by pulsatile blood flowing throughthe tissue on the finger of the user, the second hole having a secondaxis running therethrough; wherein the first axis of the first hole andthe second axis of the second hole are substantially aligned such that,when the first probe is inserted through the first hole into an interiorspace defined between the first and second body portions and the secondprobe is inserted through the second hole into the interior space, endsof the first and second probes oppose one another and compress thetissue on the finger of the user, a distance between the ends of thefirst and second probes defining an optical radiation transmission pathlength. The noninvasive physiological sensor can further comprise: afirst probe guide and a second probe guide, and the first probe can beat least partially secured by the first probe guide and the second probecan be at least partially secured by the second probe guide. Thenoninvasive physiological sensor can further comprise a joint configuredto rotatably couple the first body portion to the second body portionand allow the first body portion to rotate about a transverse axis ofthe sensor generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the sensorrunning between the first body portion and the second body portion. Thesensor can be configured such that rotation of the first body portionwith respect to the second body portion causes the first and secondprobe guides to move the first and second probes toward one another tocompress the tissue of the user. The first hole can extend through afirst side of the first body portion and the second hole can extendthrough a second side of the first body portion. The second side can beopposite to the first side and the first body portion can be shaped toconform to the finger of the user. The optical radiation transmissionpath length can be between ¼ inch (0.64 cm) and 1/12 inch (0.21 cm). Theoptical radiation transmission path length can be between ⅙ inch (0.42cm) and 1/10 inch (0.25 cm).

A noninvasive physiological sensor can comprise: a first body portionand a second body portion coupled to the first body portion, the firstand second body portions configured to at least partially enclose afinger of a user; and a first probe and a second probe at leastpartially aligned with the first probe, the first probe coupled to oneor more emitters configured to emit optical radiation toward tissue ofthe patient and the second probe coupled to one or more detectorsconfigured to detect light emitted by the one or more emitters afterattenuation by pulsatile blood flowing through the tissue; wherein, whenthe first and second body portions are rotated with respect to oneanother, a distance between ends of the first and second probes ischanged. When the first and second body portions are rotated withrespect to one another to a first position, ends of the first and secondprobes can be configured to compress at least a portion of the tissue ofthe user, and the distance between the ends of the first and secondprobes can define an optical radiation transmission path length. Theoptical radiation transmission path length can be less than ¼ inch (0.64cm). When the first and second body portions are rotated with respect toone another to a second position, the ends of the first and secondprobes can be configured to move further away from one another, and, atthe second position, the distance between the ends can be equal to amaximum distance. The first position can be a position in which thesensor is closed or partially closed. The second position can be aposition in which the sensor is open or partially open. The noninvasivephysiological sensor can further comprise: a first hole configured toreceive the first probe, the first hole having a first axis runningtherethrough; a second hole configured to receive the second probe, thesecond hole having a second axis running therethrough; wherein the firstaxis of the first hole and the second axis of the second hole aresubstantially aligned such that, when the first probe passes through thefirst hole into an interior space defined by the first and second bodyportions and the second probe passes through the second hole into theinterior space, the ends of the first and second probes oppose oneanother and compress the tissue on the finger of the user. Each of thefirst and second probes can be coupled to at least one of the first andsecond body portions. Each of the first and second probes can beindirectly coupled to at least one of the first and second bodyportions. Each of the first and second probes can be at least partiallyretained within spacers, and the spacers can be configured to contactportions of sides of the first and second body portions. The portions ofthe sides of the first and second body portions can comprise armsextending from the first body portion and recessed portions of the sidesof the second body portion. The spacers can comprise apertures sized toallow the first and second probes to extend therethrough. Thenoninvasive physiological sensor can comprise a first probe guide and asecond probe guide. The first probe can be at least partially retainedby the first probe guide and/or the second probe can be at leastpartially retained by the second probe guide. The noninvasivephysiological sensor can further comprise a joint configured torotatably couple the first body portion to the second body portion andallow the first body portion to rotate about a transverse axis of thesensor, the transverse axis being generally perpendicular to alongitudinal axis of the sensor running between the first body portionand the second body portion, the longitudinal axis extending along alength of the sensor. The first hole can extend through a first side ofthe first body portion and/or the second hole can extend through asecond side of the first body portion. The second side can be oppositeto the first side and the first body portion can be shaped to conform tothe finger of the user.

A method of measuring a physiological parameter of a user can comprise:providing a first probe configured to couple to at least one emitter,the at least one emitter configured to emit optical radiation towardtissue of a user; providing a second probe configured to couple to atleast one detector, the at least one detector configured to detect lightemitted by the at least one emitter after attenuation by pulsatile bloodflowing through the tissue; moving ends of the first and second probestoward one another to compress the tissue; emitting the opticalradiation from the at least one emitter and guiding the emitted opticalradiation to the compressed tissue with the first probe; and guiding theoptical radiation after attenuation through the compressed tissue withthe second probe to the at least one detector. When the ends of thefirst and second probes compress the tissue of the user, the ends of thefirst and second probes can substantially align with one another and adistance between the ends of the first and second probes can define anoptical radiation transmission path length. The optical radiationtransmission path length can be less than ¼ inch (0.64 cm). The firstprobe can comprise a first optical fiber and the second probe cancomprise a second optical fiber. The at least one emitter can comprise:a first emitter configured to emit optical radiation at a firstwavelength; a second emitter configured to emit optical radiation at asecond wavelength; and a third emitter configured to emit opticalradiation at a third wavelength. The first wavelength, secondwavelength, and/or third wavelength can be different from each other.The tissue can be located on a finger of the user and the method canfurther comprise positioning the finger within a noninvasivephysiological measurement sensor configured to at least partially secureto the finger. The method can further comprise inserting the first probeat least partially through a first hole in the noninvasive physiologicalmeasurement sensor and inserting the second probe at least partiallythrough a second hole in the noninvasive physiological measurementsensor. The first and second probes can be at least partially retainedby the noninvasive physiological measurement sensor. The noninvasivephysiological measurement sensor can comprise a first probe guide and asecond probe guide, and the first probe can be at least partiallysecured by the first fiber guide and the second probe can be at leastpartially secured by the second fiber guide. The noninvasivephysiological measurement sensor can further comprise a first bodyportion and a second body portion. The first body portion and the secondbody portion can be coupled to one another and configured to rotate withrespect to one another. Moving the ends of the first and second probestoward one another to compress the tissue can comprise rotating thefirst body portion with respect to the second body portion. At least oneof the first body portion and the second body portion can comprise asurface shaped to conform to the finger of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to theaccompanying drawings. These embodiments are illustrated and describedby example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure. In the drawings, similar elements have similar referencenumerals.

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic diagram depicting a physiologicalmeasurement system configured to generate a plethysmograph through atissue of a user that can be used in combination with a noninvasivephysiological sensor in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates an embodiment of a physiological measurement systemin accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 1C illustrates another embodiment of a physiological measurementsystem in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 1D illustrates a side view of the embodiment of the physiologicalmeasurement system of FIG. 1C.

FIG. 1E illustrates an exemplary cross-section of a fiber bundle inaccordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 1F illustrates an exemplary side cross-sectional view inside afiber mating sleeve connector in accordance with aspects of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 1G illustrates another embodiment of a physiological measurementsystem in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIGS. 1H-1J illustrate enlarged views of portions of the physiologicalmeasurement system of FIG. 1G in accordance with aspects of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 1K illustrates an exemplary angled end of a fiber in accordancewith aspects of this disclosure.

FIGS. 1L-1N illustrate exemplary schematic diagrams of embodiments ofphysiological measurement systems in accordance with aspects of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram depicting an embodiment of acomputer hardware system configured to run software for implementing oneor more embodiments of the physiological measurement system describedherein.

FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective view of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor of FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1G.

FIG. 2B illustrates another perspective view of the noninvasivephysiological sensor of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C illustrates a back view of the noninvasive physiological sensorof FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2D illustrates a front view of the noninvasive physiological sensorof FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2E illustrates a top view of the noninvasive physiological sensorof FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2F illustrates a bottom view of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2G illustrates a side view of the noninvasive physiological sensorof FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2H illustrates another side view of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2I illustrates a top perspective view of a lower sensor body of thenoninvasive physiological sensor of FIG. 2A with a finger placedtherewithin.

FIG. 2J illustrates a bottom view of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor of FIG. 2A in an open configuration with a finger positionedtherewithin.

FIG. 2K illustrates a bottom view of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor of FIG. 2A in a closed configuration where a finger positionedtherewithin and tissue of the user is compressed by fibers in accordancewith aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 2L illustrates another perspective view of the noninvasivephysiological sensor of FIG. 2A showing longitudinal and transverse axesof the device.

FIG. 3A-3B illustrate exploded views of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 4A illustrates a perspective view of an upper sensor body of thenoninvasive physiological sensor of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 4B illustrates another perspective view of the upper sensor body ofFIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C illustrates another perspective view of the upper sensor body ofFIG. 4A.

FIG. 4D-4E illustrate side views of the upper sensor body of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4F illustrates a top view of the upper sensor body of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4G illustrates a bottom view of the upper sensor body of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4H illustrates a front view of the upper sensor body of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4I illustrates a back view of the upper sensor body of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A illustrates a top perspective view of a lower sensor body of thenoninvasive physiological sensor FIG. 2A.

FIG. 5B illustrates another top perspective view of the lower sensorbody of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C illustrates a bottom perspective view of the lower sensor bodyof FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5D illustrates a top view of the lower sensor body of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5E illustrates a bottom view of the lower sensor body of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5F illustrates a side view of the lower sensor body of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5G illustrates another side view of the lower sensor body of FIG.5A.

FIG. 6A-6F illustrate various views of an embodiment of a fiber guide inaccordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIGS. 7A-7F illustrate various views of another embodiment of a fiberguide in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described withreference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals refer tolike elements throughout. The following description is merelyillustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit thedisclosure, its application, or uses. It should be understood that stepswithin a method may be executed in different order without altering theprinciples of the present disclosure. Furthermore, embodiments disclosedherein can include several novel features, no single one of which issolely responsible for its desirable attributes or which is essential topracticing the systems, devices, and methods disclosed herein.Additionally, aspects and features of the various embodiments of thedevices, systems, and methods disclosed herein can be combined and/orintegrated with one another without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic diagram depicting a physiologicalmeasurement system 1 configured to generate a plethysmograph through atissue 6 of a user that can be used alone or in combination with anoninvasive physiological measurement device, such as noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 described herein. The physiological measurementsystem 1 can include one or more emitters 2 and/or one or more detectors8. The one or more emitters 2 can be light-emitting diodes (LED), forexample. The one or more detectors 8 can be photodetectors, photodiodes,phototransistors, and/or the like. As shown, each of the one or moreemitters 2 can be coupled to a fiber 3 (such as an optical fiber) tohelp collect, guide, and/or transmit the emitted light. As also shown,fibers 3 can be coupled together (for example, bundled together) by acoupler 5 and can join and/or meet an end of a fiber 5 a, which cancontact (for example, probe) tissue 6 of a user as discussed in moredetail below. The physiological measurement system 1 can include anincident light (I)_(o) detector 4 that can detect the light emitted bythe one or more emitters 2 via fibers 3 before such light is transmittedto and/or through the tissue 6. Thus, the light detected by the Iodetector 4 can act as a reference point by which light detected by theone or more detectors 8 can be compared. Such comparison can allow for amore refined analysis of physiological parameters determined based onlight attenuated through the tissue 6. In some embodiments, I₀ detector4 is connected to a fiber 4 a which can connect and/or pass throughcoupler 5 (also referred to herein as “adapter”). Coupler 5 can joinfibers 3 and fiber 4 a therewithin, and can allow an end of fiber 5 a tomeet an end of the joined fibers 3 and 4 a. Fiber 5 a can receive thelight transmitted via fibers 3 and can transmit such light to the tissue6, for example, when fiber 5 a contacts tissue 6 as discussed herein.Alternatively, in some embodiments, I₀ detector 4 is integrated intocoupler 5. In some embodiments, I₀ detector 4 is separate from coupler5. The tissue 6 can be any portion of a user's body. For example, thetissue 6 can be a portion of a user's finger, toe, nose, or otherportion of the user's body. As shown in FIGS. 1A, each of the one ormore detectors 8 can be coupled to fibers 7 (such as optical fibers)which can collect light after attenuation through tissue 6. While FIG.1A shows the fibers 7 joined together proximate tissue 6, the fibers 7can alternatively be spaced apart from each other when placed at thetissue 6. For example, each of the fibers 7 shown in FIG. 1A can bespaced apart and positioned adjacent tissue 6. Such spacing of thefibers 7 can allow the fibers 7 to contact different portions of thetissue 6 (for example, finger) and/or probe different path length of thetissue 6. Fibers 7 can collect attenuated light after transmissionthrough tissue 6 and guide the attenuated light to the one or moredetectors 8. While not shown in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, system 1includes a coupler similar to coupler 5 which is on the detector side oftissue 6 that couples end of fibers 7 with each other and/or to aseparate fiber that probes tissue 6, similar to fiber 5 a.

The coupling of the one or more emitters 2 with fibers 3 canadvantageously allow light emitted from the one or more emitters 2 at awide, divergent angle and/or direction to be guided, focused, and/ordirected as a point source (for example, via an end of a fiber 3). Suchcoupling can allow physical path length to be constant duringtransmission of light via the one or more fibers 3, which can allow theemitters 2 to transmit light at and/or through highly absorbing mediumsat a single or multiplicity of wavelengths and/or wavelength regions.Such wavelengths can include any visible, near infrared (NIR), midinfrared (MIR) or any other spectroscopic band measurements, forexample. In some embodiments, system 1 includes a plurality of emitters2 (such as two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight or more emitters2) and each of the plurality of emitters 2 emit light at a differentwavelength or wavelength region. Additionally, the joining or meeting ofthe fibers 3 in the coupler 5 with fiber 5 a can allow for a smalleramount of contact area with tissue 6 since only fiber 5 a contacts thetissue 6, which can reduce user discomfort. The coupling of the one ormore emitters 2 with fibers 3 can also provide reduction in lightleakage. The use of fibers 3 and/or fiber 5 a can also allow a beamangle of the emitted light from the emitters 2 to be adjusted asdesired. The integration of fiber 4 a within coupler 5 canadvantageously allow real time measurement of the amount of lightemitted by the emitters 2 and/or transmitted by fibers 3 by the I₀detector 4 in an efficient and convenient manner.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the coupling of the one or more emitters 2 and/orthe one or more detectors 8 with fibers 3, fibers 7, and/or fiber 5 acan allow the system to be configured such that fiber 5 a and one ormore of the fibers 7 can face each other. For example, fiber 5 a and oneor more of the fibers 7 can at least partially align along alongitudinal axis running through the fibers 5, 7 and/or can be parallelto one another so that light can be transmitted through the tissue 6 andefficiently collected by fibers 7. Such alignment can allow a greaterportion of transmitted and attenuated light to be collected by thefibers 7 and passed to the one or more detectors 8, thus increasing theaccuracy of physiological measurements. Further, as discussed below, thefiber(s) 3, 5 a and fiber(s) 7 can be pressed against tissue 6 so as tocompress a portion of the tissue 6 and/or partially isolate the portionof tissue 6 to increase accuracy of physiological measurements. Forexample, as discussed below, the compressed and/or isolated portion oftissue 6 can be a portion of a user's finger that does not include bone.Transmitting and detecting attenuated light through such compressedand/or isolated portion of tissue 6 can allow physiological measurementsto be taken without transmitting light through the user's bone, whichcan increase the accuracy of such measurements. In addition, fibers 5 acan probe (for example, press into) different portions of tissue 6 inorder to increase the ability of the transmitted light to penetratebeyond the epidermis layer of skin to deeper regions of the tissue 6where the blood vessels reside so as to obtain more accuratephysiological measurements. For example, such probing with fibers 5 acan reduce the tendency for the transmitted light to remain in theepidermis layer without traveling through the blood vessels in thedeeper regions of the tissue 6.

Any or all of the above-described components of the physiologicalmeasurement system 1 can be used alongside the noninvasive physiologicalsensor 10 discussed below. FIG. 1B illustrates an embodiment of aphysiological measurement system 9 that can be used alongside anoninvasive physiological sensor 10. Physiological measurement system 9can include some or many of the features described with respect tophysiological measurement system 1. As shown, physiological measurementsystem 9 includes an emitter assembly 20 which can include an emitterpackage 20 a, a fiber 20 b (which can be an optical fiber), and acoupler 20 c. Emitter package 20 a can include one or a plurality ofemitters (such as two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight or moreemitters) which emit light at the same or different wavelengths orwavelength regions, similar to that discussed above. The emitter(s)within the emitter package 20 a can be light emitting diodes (LEDs), forexample. Where the emitter package 20 a includes a plurality ofemitters, each of the plurality of emitters can be coupled to a fiber(similar to fiber 3) which can be bundled inside fiber 20 b. Coupler 20c can join the fiber 20 b to a single fiber (that can be similar oridentical to fiber 5 a) which can be held by a portion of sensor 10 andcan contact a portion of tissue of a user. Coupler 20 c can include amating sleeve connector discussed in more detail below with reference toFIGS. 1D and 1F. An end of the bundled fiber 20 b and an end of thesingle fiber (that can be similar or identical to fiber 5 a) can bepositioned within the mating sleeve connector and spaced apart by adistance (such as distance d₁ discussed with reference to FIG. 1F) suchthat light transmitted by the plurality of fibers within fiber bundle 20b passes to the single fiber and to tissue of a user when the singlefiber contacts the tissue. As also shown, physiological measurementsystem 9 includes a detector assembly 30, which can include a detector30 a, a fiber 30 b (such as an optical fiber), and a coupler 30 c.Coupler 30 c can be similar or identical to coupler 20 c. Coupler 30 ccan include a mating sleeve connector that positions fiber 30 b withrespect to a single fiber similar to that described with reference tocoupler 20 c above.

FIG. 1C illustrates a physiological measurement system 500 which is thesame as physiological measurement system 9 in many respects. Forexample, system 500 includes detector assembly 30, detector 30 a, fiber30 b, coupler 30 c, emitter package 20 a, fiber 20 b, coupler 20 c, andsensor 10. Additionally, system 500 includes an I₀ detector 20 d (whichcan be the same in some or all respects as I₀ detector 4 discussedabove), a fiber 20 e (such as an optical fiber) connected to I₀ detector20 d, and an adapter 20 f. As discussed previously, fiber 20 b can houseone or more fibers 20 b′ coupled to one or more emitters within emitterpackage 20 a. Adapter 20 f can join fiber 20 b with fiber 20 e into afiber 23 (see FIGS. 1D-1E). FIG. 1E illustrates an exemplarycross-section through fiber 23. As shown, the one or more fibers 20 b′connected to the one or more emitters of the emitter package 20 a can bepositioned within fiber 23 adjacent, proximate, and/or surrounding fiber20 e. With reference to FIG. 1D, coupler 20 c can include a matingsleeve connector (such as an FC/APC mating sleeve commercially sold byThorlabs, Inc.) that can join fiber 23 with a single fiber 20 g. FIG. 1Fshows an exemplary schematic side cross-sectional view of an inside ofsuch mating sleeve connector of coupler 20 c where an end of fiber 20 gis separated by an end of fiber 23 (and ends of fibers 20 b′, 20 e) bydistance d₁. Distance d₁ can be 1 mm (0.040 inch), 2 mm (0.080 inch), 3mm (0.12 inch), 4 mm (0.16 inch), 5 mm (0.20 inch), between 0 mm and 5mm (0.20 inch), or any value or range bounded by any combination ofthese values or range, although the distance can be outside these valuesor range in some cases. While FIG. 1E illustrates six fibers 20 b′, thenumber of fibers 20 b′ can be different than six. For example, thenumber of fibers 20 b′ can be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,or eight or more and can correspond to the amount of emitters in theemitter package 20 a. With reference to FIG. 1D, the detector assembly30 can include a coupler 30 c which can be similar or identical tocoupler 20 c. Coupler 30 c can join fiber 30 b with a fiber 30 d in asimilar manner as that described with reference to fiber 23 and fiber 20g above.

FIG. 1G illustrates a physiological measurement system 500′ which is thesame as physiological measurement system 500 in many respects. Forexample, physiological measurement system 500′ can include emitterpackage 20 a, fiber 20 b, I₀ detector 20 d, fiber 20 e, adapter 20 f,coupler 20 c, and/or fibers 23 and 20 g discussed above. Physiologicalmeasurement system 500′ illustrates a detector assembly 30′ thatincludes multiple detectors 30 a coupled to fibers 30 b, and an adapter30 e that can secure and/or orient portions of the fibers 30 b. FIG. 1Hillustrates an enlarged perspective view of the adapter 30 e and thefibers 30 b entering adapter 30 e and also shows fibers 30 d exitingadapter 30 e. Ends of fibers 30 d can be positioned proximate to,aligned with, and/or oriented relative to ends of fibers 30 b insideadapter 30 e. Adapter 30 e can help position, align, and/or orientfibers 30 d so as to facilitate engagement and/or interaction withsensor 10 (for example, with fiber guides 300, 300′ of sensor 10 whichare discussed further below).

With reference to FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1G, the detectors 30 a and/or the I₀detector 4 can be connected to a cable or circuit, such as a flexcircuit 33. Flex circuit 33 can transmit signals responsive to the lightdetected by detectors 30 a and/or the I₀ detector 4 to a user monitor orother processing device (such as user monitor 420) for furtherprocessing and/or analysis.

FIGS. 1I-1J illustrate enlarged views of ends of fibers 30 d and fiber20 g. As shown, ends of fibers 30 d and/or fiber 20 g can be angled withrespect to axes extending through the fibers 30 d, 20 g. For example,with reference to FIG. 1K, ends of fibers 30 d and/or fiber 20 g can beangled at an angle θ such that the normal vector V_(N) extendingperpendicular to planes P₁ of the ends is angled with respect to axes A₁that extend through a length (or a portion of the length) of fibers 30d, 20 g. Such angle θ can be any angle or range between 0 and 90degrees. For example, angle θ can be 5 degrees, 10 degrees, 15 degrees,20 degrees, 25 degrees, 30 degrees, 35 degrees, 40 degrees, 45 degrees,50 degrees, 55 degrees, or 60 degrees, or any value or rangetherebetween, or any range bounded by any combination of these values,although values outside these values or ranges can be used in somecases. Such angles and/or orientation of ends of fibers 30 d and/orfiber 20 g can advantageously allow the fibers 30 d, 20 g to pressdeeper into tissue which can in turn increase the ability fortransmitted light to pass more directly through skin layers and bloodvessels of the tissue (via fiber 20 g) and be attenuated (to fibers 30d). The angles of ends of fibers 30 d, 20 g can also advantageouslybetter align with and/or conform to surfaces of tissue of a user (forexample, skin surfaces on a bottom of a user's finger) which may beangled or curved. In such cases, the angles of the ends of fibers 30 d,20 g can be relatively “flush” with such angled or curved tissuesurfaces, which can aid the transmission of light into the tissue viafiber 20 g and can aid the collection of the attenuated light via fibers30 d. While FIGS. 1I-1J illustrate three fibers 30 d having ends havingsimilar or identical angles, each of the ends of fibers 30 d can havedifferent angles. Further, while the three fibers 30 d are illustratedas being along the same vertical plane, in some embodiments, the threefibers 30 d are engaged by the adapter 20 e and/or portions of thesensor 10 such that the fibers 30 d are not on the same vertical plane.In some embodiments, an end of fiber 20 g is angled differently than oneor more of the ends of the fibers 30 d. Alternatively, in someembodiments, an end of fiber 20 g is angled the same as one or more ofthe ends of the fibers 30 d.

FIG. 1L illustrates a simplified schematic diagram of a physiologicalmeasurement system 600 that operates in a transmissive manner—forexample, where emitters and corresponding fibers transmit light intotissue and fibers on an opposite side of the tissue collect theattenuated light. Such schematic thus illustrates aspects of thephysiological measurement systems discussed elsewhere herein. FIGS.1M-1N illustrates schematic diagrams of alternative configurations forphysiological measurement systems. For example, FIG. 1M illustrates asimplified schematic diagram of a physiological measurement system 700that operates in a reflective manner—for example, where emitters (andcorresponding fibers) transmit light into tissue and fibers on the sameside of the tissue collect the attenuated light. FIG. 1N illustrates asimplified schematic diagram of a physiological measurement system 800that operates in both a transmissive and reflective manner—for example,where emitters (and corresponding fibers) transmit light into tissue andfibers on the same and the opposite side of the tissue collect the lightattenuated through the tissue. Thus, while physiological measurementsystems 1, 9, 500, 500′ are illustrated as being configured to operatein a transmissive configuration, one of skill in the art will recognizethat such systems 1, 9, 500, 500′ can be modified to operate in thereflective configuration or a dual configuration (transmissive andreflective configuration), such as that shown in FIGS. 1M-1N, withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

This disclosure describes embodiments of physiological measurementsystems and noninvasive physiological measurement devices that caninteract with a computing device and enable a user to measure, view,compare, analyze and/or download information relating to the respiratorysystem, for example, via the computing device, which may contain moreadvanced functionality than traditional systems and devices. Thecomputing device can be, for instance, a cellphone or smartphone,tablet, laptop, personal digital assistant (PDA), and/or the like.

Generally, the systems and devices described herein can be used togenerate information that can be incorporated into user interfaces thatmay be implemented in a user computing device. The user interfaces candepict displays that may be implemented in any of the user devicesdescribed herein. Such user interfaces shown may be implemented in amobile application such as an application that runs on a mobileoperating system such as the Android™ operating system available fromGoogle™ or the iOS™ operating system available from Apple™.Alternatively, or in addition to being a mobile application, the userinterfaces can be implemented in a web application that runs in abrowser.

The user interfaces are merely examples that illustrate some exampleembodiments described herein and may be varied in other embodiments. Forinstance, user interface controls shown may include buttons,touch-selective components and the like which may be altered to includeany type of user interface control including, but not limited to,checkboxes, radio buttons, select boxes, dropdown boxes, textboxes orany combination of the same. Likewise, the different user interfacecontrols may be combined or their functionality may be spread apartamongst additional controls while retaining the similar or samefunctionality as shown and described herein. Although interfaces areshown having displays 424, audible indicator 426, and/or keypad 428,other devices may implement similar user interfaces with other types ofuser input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, stylus, or the like.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a usermonitoring system 400 that can be used alongside the physiologicalmeasurement systems 1, 9, 500, 500′ and/or noninvasive physiologicalsensor 10. As shown, the system 400 can include a user monitor 402including a processor 404 and a host instrument 408. As shown, thesystem 400 can include an emitter 416, which can be the same as the oneor more emitters 2 and/or emitter package 20 a, and a detector 420,which can be the same as the one or more detectors 8 and/or detector 30a. The processor 404 can receive one or more intensity signal(s)indicative of one or more parameters of tissue of a user from thedetector 420. For example, with reference to FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1G,signals from the detector(s) 30 a and/or I₀ detector 4, 20 d can betransmitted to processor 404 via cables or circuits such as flexcircuits 33. The processor 404 can also communicate with a hostinstrument 408 to display determined values calculated using the one ormore intensity signals. The processor 404 can comprise processingcircuitry arranged on one or more printed circuit boards capable ofinstallation into the monitor 402, or capable of being distributed assome or all of one or more OEM components for a wide variety of hostinstruments monitoring a wide variety of user information. The processor404 can convert digital control signals into analog drive signalscapable of driving emitters and can convert composite analog intensitysignal(s) from light sensitive detectors into digital data. Theprocessor 404 can process signals from the detector 420 and transmit theprocessed signals to, for example, host instrument 408, related to oneor more intensity signals representative of the absorption or emissionfrom transmissive or reflective sensor systems of a plurality ofwavelengths of emitted light by body tissue.

As shown in FIG. 10, the system 400 can include a plurality of emitters416 irradiating the body tissue 418 with differing wavelengths of light,and one or more detectors 420 capable of detecting the light afterattenuation by the tissue 418, as discussed above. The system 400 mayinclude other electrical components such as, for example, a memorydevice 422 comprising an EPROM, EEPROM, ROM, RAM, microcontroller,combinations of the same, or the like. Other components may include anoptional temperature indicator 423 or other mechanisms for, for example,determining real-time emission wavelengths of the emitters 416. Thesemechanisms can include, for example, the I₀ detector 4, 20 d discussedabove.

The host instrument 408 can receive signals indicative of thephysiological parameter information calculated by the processor 404. Thehost instrument 408 preferably includes one or more display devices 424capable of displaying indicia representative of the calculatedphysiological parameters of the tissue 418 at the measurement site. Thehost instrument 408 can advantageously include a handheld housingcapable of displaying one or more of a pulse rate, plethysmograph data,perfusion quality such as a perfusion quality index (“PI™”), signal ormeasurement quality (“SQ”), values of blood constituents in body tissue,including for example, SpO2, HbCO, HbMet, HbT, or the like. The hostinstrument 408 can display values for one or more of HbT, Hb, bloodglucose, bilirubin, or the like. The host instrument 408 may be capableof storing or displaying historical or trending data related to one ormore of the measured values, combinations of the measured values,plethysmograph data, or the like. The host instrument 408 can alsoinclude an audio indicator 426 and user input device 428, such as, forexample, a keypad, touch screen, pointing device, voice recognitiondevice, or the like. The host instrument 408 can communicate withcomputing devices and/or physiological monitoring systems, such asphysiological measurement system 1, 9, 500, 500′ and/or noninvasivephysiological sensor 10, over wireless or wired public or privatenetworks. For example, such communication can be via wireless protocolssuch as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-wave, or radio frequency such asnear field communication, or other wireless protocols such as cellulartelephony infrared, satellite transmission, proprietary protocols,combinations of the same, and the like.

FIGS. 2A-2H illustrate a noninvasive physiological sensor 10 that can beused alongside the physiological measurement systems 1, 9, 500, 500′and/or system 400 discussed above. FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate explodedperspective views of the noninvasive physiological sensor 10.Noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can include an upper sensor body 100and a lower sensor body 200, as discussed further below. As alsodiscussed further below, the upper sensor body 100 and the lower sensorbody 200 can be coupled together via a joint, which can comprise uppersensor body hinges 114 and lower sensor body hinges 214 (see FIGS. 4Cand 5B). Noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can include a biasingmember 103 (FIGS. 2G-2H and 3A-3B), which can space apart the upper andlower sensor bodies 100, 200 from each other. The biasing member 103 caninclude a spring, rubber material, and/or a compressible material, forexample. Accordingly in a closed position (for example, as illustratedin FIG. 2A), a front portion 113 of the upper sensor body 100 (see FIG.4A) can be spaced apart from a front portion 213 of the lower sensorbody 200 (see FIG. 5A). In such configuration, the front portion 113 ofthe upper sensor body 100 can be approximately parallel to the frontportion 213 of the lower sensor body 200. Noninvasive physiologicalsensor 10 can include one or more probe guides configured to retainand/or secure (or at least partially retain and/or at least partiallysecure) one or more probes. For example, the one or more probe guidescan be fiber guides 300, 300′ discussed further below, such as two fiberguides, which can help secure a portion of one or more probes coupled toone or more emitters and/or one or more detectors. The one or moreprobes can be used to compress tissue of the user. The one or moreprobes can have ends which contact and/or compress the tissue of theuser. The one or more probes can couple to the one or more emittersand/or one or more detectors and can help at least partially guide lightfrom the one or more emitters to the tissue and/or can help at leastpartially guide attenuated light after transmission through the tissueof the user. The one or more probes can comprise, for example, fibers,such as optical fibers. For example, the one or more probes can comprisefibers 105 and/or 107 (see FIGS. 3A-3B) which can be the same in many orall respects to fibers 5 a, 20 g, and/or 30 d. As shown in at leastFIGS. 3A-3B and as further discussed below, fiber guides 300, 300′ canfit in recesses on sides of the lower sensor body 200. As also discussedin further detail below, the fiber guides 300, 300′ can havethrough-holes 314, 314′ configured to permit the fibers 105, 107 to passtherethrough, and the fiber guides 300, 300′ can fit in the recesses onthe sides of the lower sensor body 200 so that the through-holes 314,314′ of the fiber guides 300, 300′ align with one or more holes 230 inthe lower sensor body 200 (see FIGS. 6B, 7B, and 5F). The fiber guides300, 300′ can at least partially secure the fibers 105, 107 (forexample, via the through-holes 314, 314′) and/or align the fibers 105,107 so that they can pass through the one or more holes 230 of the lowersensor body 200. While the figures illustrate recessed portions on thesides of the lower sensor body 200 that are sized and/or shaped toreceive a portion of the fiber guides 300, 300′ (for example, recessedportions 250 as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B), the upper sensor body 100 canadditionally and/or alternatively include recessed portions on sidesthereof which are configured to receive at least a portion of fiberguides 300, 300′.

Noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can be secured to a finger 11 of auser. FIG. 21 illustrates noninvasive physiological sensor 10 with theupper sensor body 100 removed so as to better show the finger 11 whenpositioned within the noninvasive physiological sensor 10. As discussedfurther below, the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 (or a portionthereof) can be shaped to conform to the shape of a portion of a user'sbody. For example, the lower sensor body 200 (or a portion thereof) canbe shaped to conform to a finger 11 of the user. As another example, thelower sensor body 200 (or a portion thereof) can be shaped to conform toa skin-side surface of finger 11 of the user. FIGS. 2J-2K illustrate abottom view of the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 where a finger 11is shown in phantom lines. FIG. 2J illustrates the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 in an open position and FIG. 2K illustrates thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10 in a closed position. As can be seenin FIG. 2K and as is discussed further below, the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 can be configured to move the fibers 105, 107towards each other within an interior space defined by the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 so that a portion of the user's finger 11 iscompressed. As discussed further herein, such compression allows lightto be transmitted through and attenuated by a portion of the user'stissue and detected without having to pass through a user's bone. Asdiscussed elsewhere herein, such compression also allows the fibers 105,107 to more directly transmit light through, and collect attenuatedlight from, deeper region so the tissue which include the user's bloodvessels. This can advantageously increase the accuracy of physiologicalmeasurements which rely on transmitting light through such bloodvessels.

FIGS. 4A-4I illustrates various views of the upper sensor body 100 ofthe noninvasive physiological sensor 10. Upper sensor body 100 caninclude a top surface 110 (see FIGS. 4A-4B) and a bottom surface 111opposite to the top surface 110 (see FIG. 4C). Upper sensor body 100 canalso include a front portion 113 and a back portion 115 (see FIG. 4A).The front portion 113 can be shaped to correspond to the shape of afront portion of the lower sensor body 200 (such as front portion 213).The front portion 113 can be curved and/or rounded, as shown in FIG. 4A.

As described and shown herein, the noninvasive physiological sensor 10can include a joint configured to rotatably couple the upper sensor body100 to the lower sensor body 200 and allow the upper sensor body 100and/or the lower sensor body 200 to rotate with respect to each other.As shown by FIG. 2L, the joint can allow the upper sensor body 100and/or the lower sensor body 200 to rotate about a transverse axis 52 ofthe noninvasive physiological sensor 10, which can be perpendicular to alongitudinal axis 50 that extends through a length of the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10. The joint can include a first coupling portionthat extends from the upper sensor body 100 and a second couplingportion that extends from the lower sensor body 200, whereby the firstand second coupling portions couple to each other and allow the upperand lower sensor bodies 100, 200 to be rotatably coupled to one another.For example, the first coupling portion can include one or more hinges114 (see FIGS. 4A-4E), such as one, two, three, or four or more hinges114. The first coupling portion can include two hinges 114 that extendfrom bottom surface 111 of the upper sensor body 100. The hinges 114 canextend from the bottom surface 111 in a direction generallyperpendicular to the bottom surface 111. As discussed and shown herein,the hinges 114 can extend from the bottom surface 111 of the uppersensor body 100 towards the lower sensor body 200 when the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 is assembled.

The first coupling portion of the upper sensor body 100 can be sizedand/or shaped to fit within a recessed portion of the lower sensor body200 so as to facilitate rotation of the upper sensor body 100 withrespect to the lower sensor body 200. For example, extending or “free”ends of the hinges 114 can be curved and/or rounded so as to fit atleast partially within a curved recessed portion 220 on the lower sensorbody 200 (see FIGS. 4C and 5A-5B). When the upper sensor body 100rotates relative to the lower sensor body 200, the corresponding shapeof the hinges 114 and the recessed portions 220 can facilitate smoothrotation of the upper sensor body 100 with respect to the lower sensorbody 200 with little or no interference from the hinges 114. In asimilar fashion, upper sensor body 100 can include a recessed portion120 that is sized and/or shaped to correspond to the size and/or shapeof the second coupling portion extending from the lower sensor body 200so as to facilitate rotation of the lower sensor body 200 with respectto the upper sensor body 100. For example, the bottom surface 111 of theupper sensor body 100 can have a curved recessed portion 120 thatcorresponds to a curved and/or rounded shape of hinges 214 of the secondcoupling portion of the lower sensor body 200. When the lower sensorbody 200 rotates relative to the upper sensor body 100, thecorresponding shape of the hinges 214 and the recessed portions 120 canfacilitate smooth rotation of the lower sensor body 200 with respect tothe upper sensor body 100 with little or no interference from the hinges214. The recessed portions 120, 220 can thus facilitate smooth rotationof hinges 114, 214 and also allow the device 10 to be compact in size.For example, the device 10 can have less vertical height than wouldotherwise be needed to accommodate spacing and/or rotation of the hinges114, 214 proximate to the upper and lower sensor bodies 100, 200.

The one or more hinges 114, 214 can include one or more holes 118, 218extending therethrough sized and/or shaped to allow a pin (not shown) topass therethrough. The pin can extend through holes 118 of the hinges114 and also extend through holes 218 on hinges 214 so as to secureand/or couple the hinges 114 to the hinges 214. When the joint of thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10 is assembled, hinges 114 can beadjacent to hinges 214 and can be positioned in between hinges 214(compare, for example, FIG. 4G and FIG. 5D). Alternatively, when thejoint is assembled, hinges 214 can be adjacent to hinges 114 and can layin between hinges 114. In some embodiments, upper sensor body 100 hasone hinge 114. Alternatively, in some embodiments, upper sensor body 100has two or more hinges 114. In some embodiments, lower sensor body 200has one hinge 214. Alternatively, in some embodiments, lower sensor body200 has two or more hinges 214.

As shown in at least FIGS. 2G-2H and 3A-3B, the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 can include a biasing member 103. Biasing member103 can include a compression spring, among other materials describedherein. Where the biasing member 103 comprises a compression spring, thespring can comprise various strength and/or stiffness properties, and/orother material properties.

Biasing member 103 can be in contact with or be coupled to the uppersensor body 100 and/or the lower sensor body 200. For example, the uppersensor body 100 can include a protrusion and/or recess for receiving oneend of the biasing member 103. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4G,upper sensor body 100 can include a recess 122 on bottom surface 111that is sized and/or shaped to receive an end of the biasing member 103.Recess 122 can be, for example, a cylindrical recess (see FIG. 4C). Theupper sensor body 100 can additionally or alternatively include a skirtwall extending around a perimeter of a portion of the bottom surface 111of the upper sensor body 100 which can help secure and/or align thebiasing member 103 or a portion thereof. Biasing member 103 can beadhered to the bottom surface 111 of the upper sensor body 100. Biasingmember 103 can space the upper sensor body 100 from the lower sensorbody 200. The lower sensor body 200 can include a protrusion (not shown)and/or recess for receiving one end of the biasing member 103. Forexample, as shown in at least FIGS. 5A-5B, lower sensor body 200 caninclude a recess 222 on top surface 211 of the lower sensor body 200that is sized and/or shaped to receive an end of the biasing member 103.Recess 222 can be, for example, a cylindrical recess 222 (see FIGS.5A-5B). The lower sensor body 200 can additionally or alternativelyinclude a skirt wall extending around a perimeter of a portion of thetop surface 211 of the lower sensor body 200 which can help secureand/or align the biasing member 103. Biasing member 103 can be adheredto the top surface 211 of the lower sensor body 200. Biasing member 103can be adhered to the top surface 211 of the lower sensor body 200 andthe bottom surface 111 of the upper sensor body 100.

Biasing member 103 can be positioned at an approximate center of a widthof the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 along transverse axis 52 (seeFIG. 2L). Such positioning can advantageously allow the upper sensorbody 100 and/or the lower sensor body 200 to be properly balanced and/orpositioned when rotated relative to one another and can also ensure thatthere is a symmetric restoring force to appropriately bias thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10.

FIGS. 2G-2H illustrate side views of the noninvasive physiologicalsensor 10 including biasing member 103 at a front portion 60 of thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10. The front portion 60 of thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10 can rotate about the pin extendingthrough each of the first and second coupling portions of the upper andlower sensor bodies 100, 200 discussed above.

When no or minimal external forces are applied to the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10, biasing member 103 can be not compressed or notexpanded and/or can be minimally compressed and/or minimally expanded.As shown in FIGS. 2G-2H, 4A, and 5A, in a closed position, a backportion 115 of the upper sensor body 100 can be spaced apart from a backportion 215 of the lower sensor body 200.

When a force is applied to biasing member 103, such as when an externalforce is applied to the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 which can bea clip-type arrangement, biasing member 103 can allow the upper sensorbody 100 to rotate about the pin relative to the lower sensor body 200and/or the lower sensor body 200 to rotate about the pin relative to theupper sensor body 100. The biasing member 103 can bias the upper sensorbody 100 and/or the lower sensor body 200 in a position, in which noand/or minimal external forces are applied. The biasing member 103 canalso help close and/or secure the sensor 10 to a user's finger, forexample. Thus, the biasing member 103 can allow the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 to comfortably be secured to a user, such as ona finger of a user.

Biasing member 103 can be coupled near the front portion 113, 213 of theupper sensor body 100 and the lower sensor body 200. For example,biasing member 103 can be fit within recesses 122, 222 of the upper andlower sensor bodies 100, 200 near a perimeter edge of the front portions113, 213. Thus, the biasing member 103 can space the upper sensor body100 from the lower sensor body 200. As shown in at least FIG. 2L, forexample, this can allow a greater range of rotation about the joint.Such configurations can allow for the noninvasive physiological sensor10 to accommodate a greater variety of shapes and sizes of, for example,fingers of users.

As discussed herein, noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can includefiber guides 300, 300′ that secure and/or align fibers 105, 107 and thatcan fit within recessed portions 250 (see FIGS. 5A-5B) along sides oflower sensor body 200. As also discussed herein, the fibers 105, 107 canbe configured to pass through through-holes 314, 314′ in fiber guides300, 300′ and pass through holes 230 in the lower sensor body 200 intoan interior space defined by the lower sensor body 200. The interiorspace defined by the lower sensor body 200 can be, for example, a volumedefined by the lower sensor body 200 that is sized and/or shaped toconform to a portion of a finger of a user. The fiber guides 300, 300′can be configured such that they move and/or compress when engaged by aswivel mechanism of the noninvasive physiological sensor 10. The swivelmechanism can include arms 112 that extend from upper sensor body 100(see FIGS. 4A-4B) that are configured to engage fiber guides 300, 300′.Arms 112 can include a top end connected to and extending from sides ofthe upper sensor body 100 and a bottom end opposite to the top end. Asshown in at least FIGS. 4A-4B, the swivel mechanism can comprise firstand second arms 112 that extend from sides of the upper sensor body 100.Arms 112 can include slots 116 extending along a portion of a length ofthe arms 112. As shown in FIGS. 5A-5B, the lower sensor body 200 caninclude recessed portions 240 on sides of the lower sensor body 200 thatare sized, shaped, and/or inclined to correspond with a portion of thearms 112 of the swivel mechanism and/or are sized, shaped, and/orinclined so as to facilitate movement of the arms 112 along the sides ofthe lower sensor body 200 when the upper and lower sensor bodies 100,200 are rotated with respect to each other. For example, as shown inFIGS. 5A-5B and 3A-3B, the recessed portions 240 can be recessed fromsides of the lower sensor body 200 and inclined inwardly toward aninterior portion of the lower sensor body 200 so as to conform to ashape of the arms 112 of the swivel mechanism.

As shown by FIGS. 4H-4I, arms 112 of the swivel mechanism of noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 can extend from sides of the upper sensor body100 and flare outward in a direction parallel to transverse axis 52 (seeFIGS. 4H-4I). When the upper sensor body 100 and/or the lower sensorbody 200 rotate with respect to each other, arms 112 rotate and/orswivel between different positions. Additionally, interior sides of arms112 (which face an interior of the noninvasive physiological sensor 10when assembled) can be angled outwards from middle portions 57 of thearms 112 to end portions 59 of the arms 112. As also shown, interiorsurfaces of arms 112 can be inclined outward from a region between themiddle portions 57 to the end portions 59.

As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, when noninvasive physiological sensor 10 isassembled, fiber guides 300 can secure fibers 105, 107 on sides of thelower sensor body 200 and fit at least partially within recesses 250.Further, when noninvasive physiological sensor 10 is assembled, arms 112can sit at least partially within recessed portions 240, adjacent to andon an outside of fiber guides 300, such that arms 112 contact sides offiber guides 300. Slots 116 on arms 112 allow fibers 105, 107 to passtherethrough and couple to emitters and/or detectors as discussed withreference to the systems 1, 9, 500, and 500′ above. When the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 is in a closed position (as shown by FIGS.2A-2B) regions proximate to (for example, below) the middle portions 57(see FIGS. 4H and 4I) of the arms 112 are in contact with fiber guides300 (see FIGS. 2C-2D). In this closed position, these contacting regionscan apply a force to the fiber guides 300 and move and/or compress thefiber guides 300 inward toward and/or against surfaces of the recessedportions 250. As shown by FIG. 2K, in this closed position, the fibers105, 107 which are secured and/or coupled with the fiber guides 300, areforced inward toward each other within the interior space defined by thelower sensor body 200. As illustrated by FIG. 2K, when forced inwardtoward each other in this closed position, the fibers 105, 107 cancompress a portion of a tissue of a finger 11 of a user. This compressedportion of tissue is illustrated by dotted lines 13 in FIG. 2K.

Utilizing one or more probes such as fibers 105, 107 (for example, endsof fibers 105, 107) to emit light through, and detect attenuated lightfrom, tissue of a user can advantageously allow a short path length oftissue to be interrogated. As discussed elsewhere herein, thecompression of tissue in such manner can allow the fibers 105, 107 totransmit light through, and collect attenuated light from, deeperregions of tissue where blood vessels are present, which canadvantageously increase the accuracy and ability of determiningphysiological measurements. In some cases, the one or more probes (suchas fibers 105, 107) can be moved toward one another such that, when theycompress the tissue of the user, a distance between the ends of thefibers 105, 107 are between 1/12 inch (0.21 cm) and ¼ inch (0.64 cm).For example, the distance between the ends of the fibers 105, 107 whencompressing a portion of the tissue of the user can be less than orequal to 1/12 inch (0.21 cm), 1/11 inch (0.23 cm), 1/10 inch (0.25 cm),1/9 inch (0.28 cm), ⅛ inch (0.32 cm), 1/7 inch (0.36 cm), ⅙ inch (0.42cm), ⅕ inch (0.51 cm), ¼ of inch (0.64 cm), or any value therebetween,or any range bounded by any combination of these values, although valuesoutside these are possible. The one or more probes (such as fibers 105,107) can be moved toward one another such that, when they compress thetissue of the user, the compressed tissue has a thickness 1/12 inch(0.21 cm) and ¼ inch (0.64 cm), for example. The one or more probes(such as fibers 105, 107) can be moved toward one another such that,when they compress the tissue of the user, the compressed tissue has athickness less than or equal to 1/12 inch (0.21 cm), 1/11 inch (0.23cm), 1/10 inch (0.25 cm), 1/9 inch (0.28 cm), ⅛ inch (0.32 cm), 1/7 inch(0.36 cm), ⅙ inch (0.42 cm), ⅕ inch (0.51 cm), ¼ of inch (0.64 cm), orany value therebetween, or any range bounded by any combination of thesevalues, although values outside these are possible. Interrogating ashort path length of tissue allows measurements to be taken throughhighly absorbing media which enables detection of signals that maynormally fall below detectable limits. Additionally, even a capillarybed of tissue can be probed over a very short transmission path length.Such utilization of fibers (such as fibers 105, 107) in such manner thuscan provide and/or allow for higher quality measurement and/or analysisas opposed to utilization of typical noninvasive sensor devices thatemit and detect light through an entire finger which produces lowerquality (for example, due to emission and detection of light through abone in the finger). For example, fibers 105, 107 can be used totransmit, and receive, light through a portion of tissue of a userwithout directing or allowing the light or optical radiation to passthrough a bone, cartilage, or muscle, and/or without directing light oroptical radiation toward a bone, cartilage, or muscle of a user. Whilethe above discussion is made with reference to fibers 105, 107, asmentioned elsewhere herein, such discussion is equally applicable tofibers 30 d and 20 g discussed previously. Thus, for example, fiber(s)30 d and fiber 20 g can be moved towards one another via interactionwith noninvasive physiological sensor 10 similarly as discussed withreference to fibers 105 and 107 above.

When the upper and lower sensor bodies 100, 200 are rotated about eachother (as discussed above), arms 112 can slide within, along, and/oradjacent to recessed portions 240 of lower sensor body 200. Morespecifically, a region between middle portions 57 and end portions 59 ofarms 112 can slide within, along, and/or adjacent to recessed portions240. In a closed position, regions proximate to (for example, below) themiddle portions 57 are in contact with recessed portions 240. When theupper and lower sensor bodies 100, 200 are rotated about each other, therecessed portions 240 contact a region between the middle portions 57and end portions 59 of arms 112. When the upper and lower sensor bodies100, 200 are rotated to a maximum open position, end portions 59 of arms112 can contact the recessed portions 240 and fiber guides 300. At thismaximum open position, the end portions 59 can contact the recessedportions 240 at an end of the slots 116 since fibers 105,107 passthrough the slots 116 and through-holes 314 in fiber guides 300. Theoutward inclination of the interior surfaces of arms 112 (see FIGS.4H-4I) from middle portions 57 to end portions 59 allows less force tobe applied by the arms 112 to the fiber guides 300. This in turn allowsthe fibers 105, 107 coupled to fiber guides 300 to move away from eachother within the interior space defined by the lower sensor body 200, asillustrated by FIG. 2J. Slots 116 in arms 112 allow the arms 112 tofollow the movement and/or rotation of the upper and lower sensor bodies100, 200 with respect to one another while not interfering with thefibers 105, 107 when extending through the through-holes 314 in thefiber guides 300 and the holes 230 in the lower sensor body 200. Suchconfiguration allows the fibers 105, 107 to maintain alignment and astraightened layout which increases the ability of the fibers 105, 107to transmit and collect light, thus increasing the accuracy ofphysiological measurements obtained from the noninvasive physiologicalsensor 10. Slots 116 can have a length corresponding to a desiredrotational capacity of the upper sensor body 100 and lower body sensor200 with respect to one another. For example, where it is desirable toallow the upper and lower sensor bodies 100, 200 to rotate about eachother to a large degree, slots 116 can have a length that is a greaterpercentage of a length of the arms 112. The slots 116 can have a lengththat is a percentage of a length of the arms 112. For example, thelength of the slots 116 can be 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90%of the length of the side rails 110, or any value or range therebetween,although values outside these ranges can be used in some cases.

As shown by at least FIGS. 4A-4B and 2G-2H, arms 112 can extend fromsides of upper sensor body 100 and curve towards front portion 60 ofnoninvasive physiological sensor 10 and front portion 113 of the uppersensor body 100. The curvature of the arms 122 in this direction canadvantageously allow a portion of the interior surface of the arms 112to maintain contact with the fiber guides 300 when the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 is rotated. For example, when the upper andlower sensor bodies 100, 200 are rotated about each other and/or aboutthe joint (including hinges 114, 214), the interior surfaces of the arms112 can maintain contact with the fiber guides 300 between the middleportions 57 and the end portions 59 of the arms 112. In suchconfiguration, the arms 112 are curved toward the front portion 60 ofthe noninvasive physiological sensor 10 so as to correspond with therotational movement of the upper and lower sensor bodies 100, 200 withrespect to one another. Further, maintaining contact between the arms112 and the fiber guides 300 advantageously allows the fiber guides 300and coupled fibers 105, 107 to maintain alignment and positioning, whilealso allowing precise adjustment and movement of the fibers 105, 107toward and away from each other within the interior space defined by thelower sensor body 200.

As shown by FIG. 4H, noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can include oneor more stoppers 130 configured to prevent the upper sensor body 100from rotating beyond a limit with respect to the lower sensor body 200.For example, noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can include twostoppers 130, each extending inwardly from interior surfaces of the arms112. Stoppers 130 can be positioned along the interior surface of thearms 112 such that they are in contact with a top surface 211 of thelower sensor body 200 when the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 is ina closed position. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4H-4I and 2C-2D, whenthe noninvasive physiological sensor 10 is in the closed position,stoppers 130 sit against a top surface 211 of lower sensor body 200. Insuch configuration, stoppers 130 prevent the upper sensor body 100 fromrotating beyond a maximum limit relative to the lower sensor body 200.This advantageously prevents the noninvasive physiological sensor 10from applying to much force or pressure to a user's tissue (for example,a finger 11) when the tissue is placed therewithin, especially where thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10 includes a biasing member 103 whichmay tend to over-rotate the upper sensor body 100 relative to the lowersensor body 200 in some cases.

FIGS. 5A-5G illustrates various views of lower sensor body 200. Lowersensor body 200 can include a top surface 211 which faces bottom surface111 of the upper sensor body 100 when noninvasive physiological sensor10 is assembled and a bottom surface opposite 237 to the top surface 211of the lower sensor body 200. The top surface 211 of the lower sensorbody 200 can include a recessed portion 210. As discussed above,noninvasive physiological sensor 10 or a portion thereof can be shapedto conform to a portion of a user, such as a finger 11 of a user. Forexample, the recessed portion 210 of the top surface 211 can be shapedto conform to a user's finger. As shown, top surface 211 can besubstantially flat and can extend along sides of the lower sensor body200 and the recessed portion 210 can be curved and/or inclined frominterior edges of the substantially flat portion of the top surface 211.The top surface 211 can be flat or substantially flat except for recess222 (discussed above), recessed portion 220 (discussed above), and/orrecessed portion 210. As depicted in FIGS. 5A-5B, recessed portion 210can be curved and/or inclined along sides thereof, and the sides of therecessed portion 210 can be sized and/or shaped to conform to sides of auser's finger. As also shown, the recessed portion 210 can have a frontsection that is sized and/or shaped to conform to a tip or front portionof a user's finger. For example, the front of the recessed portion 210can be curved and/or inclined to conform to a tip of a user's finger,and can resemble a portion of a bowl.

As discussed above, the lower sensor body 200 can have one or more holes230 configured to allow fibers 105, 107 to pass therethough into aninterior space defined by the lower sensor body 200. The interior spacedefined by the lower sensor body 200 can be the space or volume definedby the recessed portion 210. As shown in at least FIGS. 5D-5E and 5A-5B,lower sensor body 200 can have an opening 270. As discussed above,noninvasive physiological sensor 10, when in a closed position, cancompress a portion of tissue of a user, for example, by movement of thefibers 105, 107 toward each other via the interaction of the swivelmechanism and the fiber guides 300. Opening 270 can advantageouslypermit inspection of the compressed or pinched portion of tissue of theuser from underneath. Such inspection can involve, for example, checkingto make sure adequate skin tissue has been isolated so that an accuratephysiological measurement can take place. Such inspection can also allowa caregiver or a user to ensure that the fibers 105, 107 are alignedand/or extending properly, and/or whether or not a user's tissue ispresent in the device. Opening 270 can be rectangular, or alternatively,square, circular, among other shapes.

As shown by FIG. 5C, lower sensor body 200 can include legs 260 thatextend outward from and along a portion of bottom surface 237 of lowersensor body 200. Legs 260 can allow the lower sensor body 200 and/or thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10 to rest atop a surface (such as aflat surface). Where a portion of the bottom surface 237 of lower sensorbody 200 is curved (see, for example, FIG. 5C), legs 260 can providesupport that allows the sensor 10 to sit on a surface without rockingalong longitudinal axis 50 of the sensor 10.

As discussed above, the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 can have ajoint including a first coupling portion and a second coupling portion.As also discussed above, the first coupling portion can be one or morehinges 114 positioned on the upper sensor body 100 and the secondcoupling portion can be one or more hinges 214 positioned on the lowersensor body 200. Hinges 214 can be positioned adjacent to and on theoutside of the hinges 114 and can be shaped to correspond with recessedportion 120 on the bottom surface 111 of upper sensor body 100, asdiscussed above. Recess 222 can be sized to fit an end of biasing member103 therewithin, as also discussed above. Recessed portion 220 can beshaped to correspond with the shape of hinges 114 so as to facilitaterotation of the hinges 113 with little or no interference with the lowersensor body 200, as discussed above.

FIGS. 5F-5G illustrate side views of the lower sensor body 200. Thesefigures show an exemplary shape of recessed portions 240, 250. Asdiscussed herein, recessed portions 240 can be shaped to accommodate aportion of the arms 112 of the swivel mechanism of the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10. The recessed portions 240 can be sized, shaped,and/or oriented to facilitate movement of the arms 112 of the swivelmechanism. For example, the recessed portions 240 can have a width (in adirection parallel to longitudinal axis 50) that is larger than or equalto a width of the arms 112 of the swivel mechanism so as to allow thearms 112 to at least partially fit therewithin. Further, the recessedportions 240 can be oriented so as to conform to the curvature of thearms 112. For example, the recessed portions 240 can be curved toward afront 213 of the lower sensor body 200 similar to the direction ofcurvature of the arms 112 of the swivel mechanism. Thus, recessedportions 240 can be sized, shaped, and/or oriented so as to facilitatemovement of the arms 112 or the swivel mechanism there within andadjacent to sides of the lower sensor body 200, which can, among otherthings allow the arms 112 to contact the fiber guides 300 as discussedabove.

FIGS. 5F-5G also illustrate recesses 250. As discussed above, therecesses 250 can be sized and/or shaped to allow a portion of the fiberguides 300 to fit at least partially there within. For example, therecesses 250 can be sized and/or shaped to allow an end of the fiberguides 300 to fit at least partially within adjacent to sides of thelower sensor body 200.

While FIGS. 5A-5G illustrate the lower sensor body 200 having one hole230 on each of the sides of the lower sensor body 200, the lower sensorbody 200 can have a different number of holes 230 on one or both of thesides of the lower sensor body 200. For example, with reference to FIG.1J and 5A, lower sensor body 200 can have a plurality of holes 230 (suchas three holes 230) on a first side of lower sensor body 200, where eachof the plurality of holes 230 are sized and/or shaped to receive fibers30 d. Additionally or alternatively, with reference to the hole 230appearing on the right side of lower sensor body 200 as shown in FIG.5B, lower sensor body 200 can have a plurality of holes 230 on suchright side of lower sensor body 200 that are sized and/or shaped toreceive one or more probes which are coupled to emitters. Thus, lowersensor body 200 can include one or more holes 230 on one of both sidesof lower sensor body 200 which allow one or more fibers to move throughand/or within the lower sensor body 200 to contact (for example, probe)tissue of a user.

FIGS. 6A-6F illustrate various views of an embodiment of a fiber guide300 (also referred to herein as “probe guide” and “spacer”). Fiber guide300 has an interior end 320 configured to contact the recess 250 of thelower sensor body 200 when the noninvasive physiological sensor 10 isassembled and an exterior end 310 configured to contact an interiorsurface of the arms 112 of the swivel mechanism when the sensor 10 isassembled. As shown, fiber guide 300 can have a through-hole 314 sizedand/or shaped to permit fiber 105, 107 (or any of the other fibersdiscussed herein) to pass therethrough. Through-hole 314 can begin atexterior end 310 and end at interior end 320. Interior end 320 can havean outer portion 330 separated from an inner portion 313 by anintermediate portion 340. The inner portion 313 can surround thethrough-hole 314. The intermediate portion 340 can be recessed from aplane at the interior end 320. The intermediate portion 340 can be inbetween the outer portion 330 and the inner portion 313, and can beopen, as shown in FIG. 6B. Any of outer portion 330, inner portion 313,and/or intermediate portion 340 can be annular in shape, for example.

As shown by FIG. 6A and as discussed in more detail below, end 310 ofthe fiber guide 300 can include an inclined portion 312. In someembodiments, the entire end 310 comprises an inclined portion 312. Insome embodiments, only a portion of the end 310 comprises an inclinedportion 312. In some embodiments, end 310 also includes a non-inclinedportion 317. The fiber guide 300 can have a circular or partiallycircular cross-section. For example, a cross-section of fiber guide 300near the interior end 320 can be circular, whereas a cross-section nearthe exterior end 310 can be partially circular due to the inclination ofthe exterior end 310. The inclination of exterior end 310 of the fiberguide 300 can correspond to the inclination and/or orientation of thearms 112. As discussed above and as shown in FIGS. 4H-4I, interiorsurfaces of arms 112 can be inclined outward from a region between themiddle portions 57 to end portions 59. Such inclination allows moreand/or less force to be applied by the arms 112 to the fiber guides 300when the swivel mechanism is engaged via rotation of the upper sensorbody 100 about the lower sensor body 200 (or vice versa). Theinclination of exterior end 310 of fiber guide 300 allows the inclinedinterior surface of the arms 112 to gradually slide along and/or contactthe exterior end 310 so that the contact and/or force applied to thefiber guide 300 is more precise. Such precision in contact and/or force,in turn, allows the fibers 105, 107 positioning and/or movement to bemore controlled, so that tissue of a user (for example, tissue of auser's finger) can be compressed in a controlled manner. Controlling thecompression of the user's tissue within the noninvasive physiologicalsensor 10 can ensure that the fibers 105, 107 are within a desiredalignment so that more accurate physiological measurements can be takenand also reduces discomfort to the user resulting from such compression.As shown in FIG. 6A, end 310 can have a non-inclined portion 317 in someembodiments. The non-inclined portion 317 can help facilitate lesscontact with the interior surface of arms 112 in combination with theinclined portion 312 so as to vary the contact and/or force applied tothe fiber guide 300 via the arms 112.

While fiber guide 300 is illustrated as having one hole 314, fiber guide300 can include more than one hole 314, such as two, three, four, five,six, or seven holes extending through fiber guide 300. Each of the holes314 can be sized and shaped to receive a fiber, such as any of thefibers discussed previously. For example, fiber guide 300 can includethree holes 314 which can be sized and/or shaped to receive one of thethree fibers 30 d that are shown and discussed with reference to FIGS.1G-1J. Such plurality of holes 314 can be positioned through the fiberguide 300 in various locations, for example, along a single verticalplane to match the layout of the fibers 30 d as shown in FIG. 1J, or inother locations and/or positions.

FIGS. 7A-7F illustrate various views of another embodiment of a fiberguide 300′ (also referred to herein as “probe guide” and “spacer”).While much of the previous discussion with respect to the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 and FIGS. 2A-5G was made with reference to fiberguide 300, fiber guide 300′ can be incorporated into noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 alongside or in place of fiber guide 300 and anyof the other components of noninvasive physiological sensor 10 describedpreviously. Fiber guide 300′ has an interior end 320′ configured tocontact the recess 250 of the lower sensor body 200 when the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 is assembled and an exterior end 310′ configuredto contact an interior surface of the arms 112 of the swivel mechanismwhen the sensor 10 is assembled. As shown, fiber guide 300′ can have athrough-hole 314′ sized and/or shaped to permit fiber 105, 107 (or anyof the other fibers discussed herein) to pass therethrough. Through-hole314′ can begin at exterior end 310′ and can extend through a portion offiber guide 300′. Interior end 320′ can have an outer portion 330′ andan open cavity 340′ defined within the outer portion 330′. The cavity340′ can have a surface that is parallel to a plane of the end 320′, andthrough-hole 314′ can extend from end 310′ through an interior of thefiber guide 300′ to the surface of cavity 340′. As shown by FIG. 7A andas discussed in more detail below, end 310′ of the fiber guide 300′ caninclude an inclined portion 312′. In some embodiments, only a portion ofthe end 310′ comprises an inclined portion 312′, as illustrated in atleast FIGS. 7A and 7E-7F. In some embodiments, end 310′ also includes anon-inclined portion 317′. FIGS. 7E-7F show side views of fiber guide300′ and show the inclined portion 312′ and the non-inclined portion317′ of the end 310′. The fiber guide 300′ can have a circular orpartially circular cross-section. For example, a cross-section of fiberguide 300′ near the interior end 320′ can be circular, whereas across-section near the exterior end 310′ can be partially circular dueto the inclination of the exterior end 310′. The inclination of exteriorend 310′ of the fiber guide 300′ can correspond to the inclinationand/or orientation of the arms 112. As discussed above and as shown inFIGS. 4H-4I, interior surfaces of arms 112 can be inclined outward froma region between the middle portions 57 to end portions 59. Suchinclination allows more and/or less force to be applied by the arms 112to the fiber guides 300′ when the swivel mechanism is engaged viarotation of the upper sensor body 100 about the lower sensor body 200(or vice versa). The inclination of exterior end 310′ of fiber guide300′ allows the inclined interior surface of the arms 112 to graduallyslide along and/or contact the exterior end 310′ so that the contactand/or force applied to the fiber guide 300′ is more precise. Suchprecision in contact and/or force, in turn, allows the fibers 105, 107(or any of the other fibers discussed herein) positioning and/ormovement to be more controlled, so that tissue of a user (for example,tissue of a user's finger) can be compressed in a controlled manner.Controlling the compression of the user's tissue within the noninvasivephysiological sensor 10 can ensure that the fibers 105, 107 (or any ofthe other fibers discussed herein) are within a desired alignment sothat more accurate physiological measurements can be taken and alsoreduces discomfort to the user resulting from such compression. Asdiscussed above, end 310′ can have a non-inclined portion 317′ in someembodiments. The non-inclined portion 317′ can help facilitate lesscontact with the interior surface of arms 112 in combination with theinclined portion 312′ so as to vary the contact and/or force applied tothe fiber guide 300′ via the arms 112.

While fiber guide 300′ is illustrated as having one hole 314′, fiberguide 300′ can include more than one hole 314′, such as two, three,four, five, six, or seven holes extending through fiber guide 300′. Eachof the holes 314′ can be sized and shaped to receive a fiber, such asany of the fibers discussed previously. For example, fiber guide 300′can include three holes 314′ which can be sized and/or shaped to receiveone of the three fibers 30 d that are shown and discussed with referenceto FIGS. 1G-1J. Such plurality of holes 314′ can be positioned throughthe fiber guide 300′ in various locations, for example, along a singlevertical plane to match the layout of the fibers 30 d as shown in FIG.1J, or in other locations and/or positions.

Although the present disclosure may describe the upper sensor body 100as being oriented vertically above the lower sensor body 200 when thenoninvasive physiological sensor 10 is assembled and/or in use, the useof the term “upper” and “lower” should not be construed to mean thatsuch orientation is required or necessary. For example, the lower sensorbody 200 can be oriented vertically above the upper sensor body 100 whenthe noninvasive physiological sensor 10 is assembled and/or in use. Insuch configuration, FIGS. 2J and 2K thus can illustrate a top view ofthe noninvasive physiological sensor 10 when in use and/or when aportion of a user's body (such as a finger or a toe) is placed within.Further, in such configuration as shown in FIGS. 2J and 2K, the opening270 in the lower sensor body 200 can allow a user to inspect tissuepinched and/or compressed by ends of fibers 105, 107 (as illustrated bythe compressed portion 13 of the tissue in FIG. 2K). Furthermore, eventhough it is mentioned that a pin may be used to join the upper sensorbody 100 with the lower sensor body 200, a plurality of pins can be usedto join the upper sensor body 100 with the lower sensor body 200 and/orother methods of joining the upper sensor body 100 and the lower sensorbody 200 may be used.

Although this disclosure has been disclosed in the context of certainpreferred embodiments and examples, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the present disclosure extends beyond thespecifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodimentsand/or uses of the disclosure and obvious modifications and equivalentsthereof. In addition, while a number of variations of the disclosurehave been shown and described in detail, other modifications, which arewithin the scope of this disclosure, will be readily apparent to thoseof skill in the art based upon this disclosure. It is also contemplatedthat various combinations or sub-combinations of the specific featuresand aspects of the embodiments may be made and still fall within thescope of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood thatvarious features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments can becombined with or substituted for one another in order to form varyingmodes of the disclosed.

Features, materials, characteristics, or groups described in conjunctionwith a particular aspect, embodiment, or example are to be understood tobe applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described inthis section or elsewhere in this specification unless incompatibletherewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification(including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or allof the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined inany combination, except combinations where at least some of suchfeatures and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The protection is notrestricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The protectionextends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the featuresdisclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims,abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination,of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Furthermore, certain features that are described in this disclosure inthe context of separate implementations can also be implemented incombination in a single implementation. Conversely, various featuresthat are described in the context of a single implementation can also beimplemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimedcombination can, in some cases, be excised from the combination, and thecombination may be claimed as a subcombination or variation of asubcombination.

Moreover, while operations may be depicted in the drawings or describedin the specification in a particular order, such operations need not beperformed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or thatall operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Otheroperations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in theexample methods and processes. For example, one or more additionaloperations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or betweenany of the described operations. Further, the operations may berearranged or reordered in other implementations. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that in some embodiments, the actual steps taken inthe processes illustrated and/or disclosed may differ from those shownin the figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain of the stepsdescribed above may be removed, others may be added. Furthermore, thefeatures and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above maybe combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all ofwhich fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Also, theseparation of various system components in the implementations describedabove should not be understood as requiring such separation in allimplementations, and it should be understood that the describedcomponents and systems can generally be integrated together in a singleproduct or packaged into multiple products.

For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novelfeatures are described herein. Not necessarily all such advantages maybe achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, forexample, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure maybe embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage or agroup of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving otheradvantages as may be taught or suggested herein.

Conditional language, such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unlessspecifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within thecontext as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,”“about,” “generally,” and “substantially” as used herein represent avalue, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, orcharacteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves adesired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”,“generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is withinless than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, withinless than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount.Additionally, as used herein, “gradually” has its ordinary meaning(e.g., differs from a non-continuous, such as a step-like, change).

The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by thespecific disclosures of preferred embodiments in this section orelsewhere in this specification, and may be defined by claims aspresented in this section or elsewhere in this specification or aspresented in the future. The language of the claims is to be interpretedbroadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited tothe examples described in the present specification or during theprosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed asnon-exclusive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A noninvasive physiological sensor comprising: afirst body portion and a second body portion coupled to the first bodyportion, the first and second body portions configured to at leastpartially enclose a finger of a user; and a first probe and a secondprobe at least partially aligned with the first probe, the first probecoupled to one or more emitters and to at least one of the first andsecond body portions, the first probe configured to direct opticalradiation emitted from the one or more emitters toward tissue of theuser's finger, the second probe coupled to one or more detectors and toat least one of the first and second body portions, the second probeconfigured to direct light attenuated through pulsatile blood flowingthrough the tissue to the one or more detectors; wherein, when the firstand second body portions are rotated with respect to one another, adistance between ends of the first and second probes is changed.
 2. Thenoninvasive physiological sensor of claim 1, wherein, when the first andsecond body portions are rotated with respect to one another to a firstposition, ends of the first and second probes are configured to compressat least a portion of the tissue of the user, and wherein the distancebetween the ends of the first and second probes defines an opticalradiation transmission path length.
 3. The noninvasive physiologicalsensor of claim 2, wherein the optical radiation transmission pathlength is less than ¼ inch (0.64 cm).
 4. The noninvasive physiologicalsensor of claim 2, wherein, when the first and second body portions arerotated with respect to one another to a second position, the ends ofthe first and second probes are configured to move further away from oneanother, and wherein, at the second position, the distance between theends is equal to a maximum distance.
 5. The noninvasive physiologicalsensor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second bodyportions comprises: a first hole configured to receive the first probe,the first hole having a first axis running therethrough; a second holeconfigured to receive the second probe, the second hole having a secondaxis running therethrough; wherein the first axis of the first hole andthe second axis of the second hole are substantially aligned such that,when the first probe passes through the first hole into an interiorspace defined by the first and second body portions and the second probepasses through the second hole into the interior space, the ends of thefirst and second probes oppose one another and compress the tissue onthe finger of the user.
 6. The noninvasive physiological sensor of claim5, wherein the first hole extends through a first side of the first bodyportion and wherein the second hole extends through a second side of thefirst body portion, the second side opposite to the first side, andwherein the first body portion is shaped to conform to the finger of theuser.
 7. The noninvasive physiological sensor of claim 1, furthercomprising a first probe guide and a second probe guide, and wherein thefirst probe is at least partially retained by the first probe guide andthe second probe is at least partially retained by the second probeguide, wherein the first probe guide comprises a first through-holesized to receive the first probe and wherein the second probe guidecomprises a second through-hole sized to receive the second probe. 8.The noninvasive physiological sensor of claim 1, further comprising ajoint configured to rotatably couple the first body portion to thesecond body portion and allow the first body portion to rotate about atransverse axis of the sensor, the transverse axis being generallyperpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the sensor extending along alength of the sensor.
 9. The noninvasive physiological sensor of claim8, wherein the joint comprises a first hinge extending from the firstbody portion, a second hinge extending from the second body portion, anda pin configured to extend through holes in the first and second hingesand couple the first and second hinges to one another.
 10. Thenoninvasive physiological sensor of claim 1, wherein the end of at leastone of the first and second probes is angled.
 11. A method of measuringa physiological parameter of a user, comprising: moving a first end of afirst probe towards a first end of a second probe to compress tissue ofa user; emitting optical radiation from at least one emitter through asecond end of the first probe, the second end of the first probe beingopposite to the first end of the first probe; directing the emittedoptical radiation to the compressed tissue of the user with the firstprobe; permitting at least a portion of the emitted optical radiation topass through a second end of the second probe after attenuation bypulsatile blood flowing in the compressed tissue, the second end of thesecond probe being opposite the first end of the second probe; directingthe at least a portion of the emitted optical radiation to a detectorwith the second probe; and determining the physiological parameter basedon the optical radiation detected by the detector.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising detecting a first amount of opticalradiation emitted by the at least one emitter with an I₀ detector. 13.The method of claim 12, further comprising comparing the first amount ofoptical radiation detected by the I₀ detector with a second amount ofoptical radiation detected by the detector, wherein the physiologicalparameter is determined based on said comparison.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the step of moving the first end of the first probetowards the first end of the second probe to compress the tissue of theuser comprises moving the first ends of the first and second probestoward one another such that the first ends substantially align with oneanother, and wherein a distance between the first ends of the first andsecond probes defines an optical radiation transmission path length. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein the optical radiation transmission pathlength is less than ¼ inch (0.64 cm).
 16. The method of claim 11,wherein the first probe comprises a first optical fiber and the secondprobe comprises a second optical fiber.
 17. A noninvasive physiologicalmonitoring system comprising: a noninvasive physiological sensorcomprising a first body portion and a second body portion coupled to thefirst body portion, the first and second body portions configured toenclose a portion of a user's body and rotate relative to one another; afirst probe and a second probe, each of the first and second probescoupled to at least one of the first and second body portions such thatrotation of the first body portion with respect to the second bodyportion in a first rotational direction causes first ends of the firstand second probes to move in a direction towards each other to compresstissue of the portion of the user's body; an emitter assembly comprisingone or more emitters and one or more emitter fibers coupled to the oneor more emitters, the one or more emitter fibers coupled to a second endof the first probe and configured to direct light emitted from the oneor more emitters to the first probe, wherein the first probe isconfigured to direct the emitted light towards the tissue of the user;and a first detector coupled to a second end of the second probe,wherein the second probe is configured to collect at least a portion ofthe light after attenuation through the tissue of the user and guide theattenuated light to the first detector.
 18. The noninvasivephysiological monitoring system of claim 17, further comprising an I₀detector configured to detect an amount of light emitted from the one ormore emitters through the one or more emitter fibers.
 19. Thenoninvasive physiological monitoring system of claim 17, furthercomprising: a third probe coupled to at least one of the first andsecond body portions such that rotation of the first body portion withrespect to the second body portion in the first rotational directioncauses a first end of the third probe to move along with the first endof the first probe in the direction towards the second probe to compressthe tissue of the portion of the user's body; and a second detectorcoupled to a second end of the third probe, wherein the third probe isconfigured to collect at least a portion of the light after attenuationthrough the tissue of the user and guide the attenuated light to thesecond detector.
 20. The noninvasive physiological monitoring system ofclaim 17, wherein at least one of the first ends of the first and secondprobes is angled.